The Lost Ones
by MagentaDiamond
Summary: The government has fallen and the world is corrupt. It has been taken over by Them, an evil group. Scarlett and her sister January are thrown out of their comfortable lives and into a world of war. Their parents are part of the alliance to fix the broken world. Scarlett and January are dropped off at a sanctuary for alliance children. Scarlett knows they can still make a difference
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"What the hell are we supposed to do now!" I screamed angrily, startling my younger sister, January.

She started to whimper. Which pissed me off even more. How could they just leave me, a fifteen year old girl, with her eleven year old sister in the middle of an abandoned parking lot with nothing but a few necessities, a useless Book of Illnesses and some stupid small box that we were supposed to keep at all times. Yeah, thanks Mom and Dad. January continued to make little fearful sobs.

"Would you stop that!" I shouted at her. She frowned at me. I looked at the run down grocery store that we had been abandoned at. It didn't look promising, but it was all we had. I exhaled. Trying to calm myself. The only way to survive was to think things through. Maybe we could take shelter in the store. It's bound to have some food and other supplies in it, unless They raided it already. I sat down, pretending to be taking note of our supplies, but I was really just attempting to distract myself so I wouldn't burst into tears along with January.

Nowadays, it seemed like we were always running but getting nowhere. We ran all throughout my childhood and now we were running again. How jacked up. Well, I guess everything has been jacked up since the government fell. My father used to tell me that there used to be a great president who had control of the land. He was a kind leader and was leading the world to greatness. But then They attacked.

'They' are a group of people who have made it their goals to keep the government under. The world is a scary place now. With everything in disarray it takes all you have to survive. And without order, there is no law. Without law, there are no consequences. Without consequences, life is a living hell.

I used to think my parents where the usual middle class couple from Brooklyn. I was wrong. I think back to the day that all organization fell and suddenly armies of Them raided people's homes, taking their food and supplies and then shooting down entire families in the streets. Being a modest, well fed seven year old, never exposed to any warfare, I was terrified. My parents grabbed my younger sister and I and took off. But I remember clearly, as we drove away in our red pick-up, my mother opening the sunroof, pulling out a machine gun, and blowing the faces off of the evil army. Shortly after, the army was running after us shooting, I was told to get down, but at the last minute I saw my father pulling the ring out of a grenade with his teeth and throwing out the window, all the while still driving. I never looked at my parents the same again. They were realtors from Brooklyn! Were they? Apparently not.

Now, eight years later, we were running again. I assumed we were going too another base. My parents belong to an alliance, made years ago, to protect the people. Before They had attacked, my parents and a group of highly undercover people around the world had been searching for Samil Asling, the leader of them. They had come so close, then suddenly the government fell and Samil Asling looked at this as a chance to attack. I have spent years at alliance bases, assisting however I could. I looked out the window of our truck. Wherever we were, it was green. It seemed like we were in some kind of small town, suburb area. Not like any of the other towns we had been to when we had visited a base camp.

The truck drove speedily along the bumpy, uneven road. We were probably some of the only people that used a car anymore. So we were the only people on the road. People didn't need cars, because they didn't really need to go anywhere. No one had jobs anymore. Money was worth nothing. Everyone's job was to keep quiet, protect himself or herself, and survive. And you didn't necessarily need a car for that.

We passed old boarded up homes and trashed little shops. Most of the windows were shattered. Which meant scavengers had broken in for supplies or They had raided this area. The town didn't seem like another base camp. And surprisingly, we pulled into a parking lot of a grocery store. The windows had been smashed and it looked like the store hadn't been touched in years. On the top of the building there was a sign that read, "Peggy's". Why had we stopped at this run down store?

"What are we doing here?" My sister asked.

My father sighed. "Dropping you off. It's getting too dangerous. I don't want to lose you two."

"So, instead you're abandoning us." January whimpered.

"We've been through dangerous situations forever. Why are you suddenly so concerned?" I said suspiciously.

My mother shook her head. "Just trust us. You will be safe here."

"Trust us." My father said calmly. I softened.

"Scarlett, take care of January." My mother instructed me, sternly. Her olive face was sad and her green eyes were hard. Her long brown hair was swept up in a ponytail. She gave us a stiff hug and kissed us both on the head. My dad leaned over from the driver's seat and hugged us too. His kind blue eyes were filled with worry and his unkempt blond hair was hanging in his eyes. "We love you guys so much."

"Love you too." We both said.

"We will be back for you as soon as we can." He said.

"When will that be?" I asked.

He didn't answer. He rushed us out of the car, shut the door, and drove away. We watched them go. Not really knowing what to do. We stood there for a while after they were out of sight. It was strangely silent. Creepy. A bird broke the silence by cawing. Suddenly, the sadness left and I felt the bitter feeling of abandonment. Fury welled up inside me. How could they just leave us all alone like this? And here we were. Standing alone. I let my anger out by yelling and cursing.

After I was done having my fit and when January had composed herself I was ready to move. "Let's check it out." I nodded at the store.

I reached in our bag and felt around for the box to make sure it was there. My hand touched something metal and hard. I grabbed it and pulled it out. It was a simple black handgun. At least that was a plus. I put it back in and zipped up the bag.

I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed towards the store, January followed behind hesitantly. The only sound was our boots against the pavement. I took a better look at the store. The windows had newspaper that covered the inside so you couldn't see in. The doors were weird for grocery store doors; they were green with small windows that were also covered in newspaper from the inside. The whole store looked like it hadn't been used in forever.

We got to the door and I took a breath. I wasn't exactly sure what could be behind the doors. But I was hoping it wasn't bad. I grabbed the handle and slowly pulled open the door. It surprisingly opened easily. We walked in hesitantly. There were shelves on both sides of the store. It was a surprisingly spacious. And to my relief the shelves were stocked with various food items. The checks out stands were straight ahead of us. The lights were off and it was quiet. But suddenly, that changed.

Flashlights abruptly flashed in our eyes and people started shouting. I felt my sister latch on to my side. Figures pointed guns at us. I raised my hands above my head.

"Hey! Hey! What is this?" I shouted. I couldn't make out their faces because of the blinding light. Was it a group of Them? Were they going to capture us and slowly torture us into telling them whatever we knew? Someone came closer so that they blocked out the glare. To my astonishment, he was just a kid, probably sixteen or so. He had blond curly hair and small blue eyes. He was tall and husky. He wore cargo pants with a white tee shirt that showed off his muscular arms.

"Who are you?" He asked pointing his gun at us.

"Uh..." I said. I wasn't sure if he was one of Them or not. So I didn't know what to say. If it was them they'd kill us once they found out we were alliance kids. But why would They have this kid as the leader or negotiator or whatever he was supposed to be?

Or was this supposed to happen? Was this our parents' plan? To drop us off at a store full of deranged kids with guns?

"Do have a box?" He asked hesitantly. At first I was confused. A box? What the hell is he talking about? Then I remembered the box my parents had given us to keep. Maybe he was on our side. I decided to take a very risky chance.

"Yes…" I cautiously reached for the bag. I paused when everyone cocked their guns and stepped forward.

"Did I give the friggen signal? No! Jesus, people would you wait?" Ordered the boy then nodded to me to go on. I unzipped our duffel bag and reached down under all our stuff. I felt the box and pulled it up. I slowly put the box on the floor and pushed it towards the boy with my foot. He picked it up, looked at it, then waved off the gunmen.

They all lowered their weapons and turned off the flashlights. I could see the rest now. Kids of all ages seemed to be there. The youngest kids being about six to the oldest being probably seventeen. Was this some sort of weird orphanage for lunatics?

The curly haired boy half smiled. "Welcome. Names?" He said all of a sudden calm.

"Scarlett." I replied, still tense.

"January?" My sister said, questioningly.

Everyone seemed to just go off and do his or her own thing again. Like something like this happened everyday. Maybe it did.

"Uh," I said confused. "Can you tell me what's going on, exactly?"

"Well, all of us," He motioned to everyone around him. "We're all alliance brats. Dumped here by our parents for protection. Just like you."

"So this is like a sanctuary?" I asked sarcastically.

" You could say that," He winked. "My name's Maddox."

"Nice to meet you?" I muttered, still ruffled by the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Ash'll show you girls around." He said. He signaled to a group of kids.

I looked over as a tall guy with unkempt blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes jogged over. My heart did a little jump. I hadn't seen a cute guy my age in years. I suddenly wished my ragged jeans and beaten leather jacket had been washed recently and that my long blond hair had been brushed out so it didn't look so nasty. This was the first time I had felt embarrassed of the way I looked.

"Hey. Sorry for the scare. Gotta be careful when those assholes are patrolling the area every night." Ash smiled. His voice was cool and super hot.

"Oh yeah its fine." I smiled back. Cautiously feeling giddy.

"Anyway, I'll show you around here." He smiled back. I studied him. He was wearing an old blue jacket that made his eyes seem impossibly bluer. He had a black T-shirt underneath and worn jeans. He wore black high tops that were ripped almost to shreds and barely hanging on. It was hard to keep my eyes off him. I suddenly snapped out of my dreamy trance when a thin girl with small, cat-like eyes walked up. She didn't look at all happy to see me.

"Hey Ash," She cooed, ignoring me. "What are you doing?" She had black hair that was pulled up into a ponytail. She wore a tight polo that looked uncomfortable with jeans and flats.

"I'm showing these girls around." He told her.

She looked at me and grimaced. She huffed and said. "Well, how about I show them around."

"Well, I was already kinda going to." Ash said. Did I hear disappointment in his voice?

"No, you probably have something better to do." The girl said. I fought the urge to tell her to piss off and let him show me the hell around. I wanted people to like me here. I'd never been around anyone my age.

He turned to me. "You guys gonna be okay?" He asked. I nodded, slightly solemn and he left.

"I'm Rozlyn," She spat. "Follow me."

I followed her, towing January behind me. We walked over to some shelves on the left side.

"This is where we store the food. Never take any without asking. We have breakfast at exactly seven every morning, lunch is at twelve, and dinner is at six. If you miss it, no food." She pointed to the right side. "Over there are any other nonfood items you need. Like, first aid kits, flashlights, whatever." She walked to the other side of the shelves. There were bathroom doors with a 'womens' sign and a 'mens' sign. "These are _obviously _the bathrooms. We go on runs to an old gym a block away every other day. That's where we take showers. If you want a shower, it's at six in the morning. And it looks like you need one." She snickered. I rolled my eyes.

She walked to the back of the store where it had been cleared and a ton of tents were set up and scattered everywhere. Some kids were going in and out of them carrying different things. "These are the living areas. We have a tent for you two, but you have to set it up yourself." She grabbed a tent bag out of a pile and shoved it at me.

"Uh, thanks." I said.

She turned to leave then stopped. "Oh," She smirked at me. "You better stay away from Ash. He's off limits."

"Wouldn't think of it." I smirked back at her. She turned and walked away.

"What a bitch." I muttered to January. She nodded agreeing. I found an open spot on the edge of all the tents. I knelled down and opened the tent bag. I pulled out all the parts, trying to figure it all out. There was also a simple clock inside. We started to put the tent together. January talked while we worked.

"I don't like it here. We probably shouldn't be here." She said.

"Well, you'll have to learn to like it. We have everything we need here."

"But you always said we were better off on our own…It's that guy isn't it? He's why you want to stay. You know Rozlyn said he'soff limits."

"Kid, since when is _anyone _the boss of me? And he is not the reason. We have everything we need to survive here, that's the reason." Why was January being so impossible about this? This was good for us it wasn't about Ash. It was about survival. We finished up our tent and stored our bag and new clock inside.

"I'm going to go look around and find us some sleeping bags or something." I said to January. I stepped over the tents and items that lay all over the floor to get to the left side of the store. Rozlyn hadn't even shown us that part at all. I rounded a corner of a wall of shelves. On the other side was another open space like the living area. But the space was filled with couches, chairs, and beanbags. There were also shelves with books, games, and an old radio. I can't remember the last time I saw a radio. I walked over to it and turned it on. All I heard was static. I rotated the dial. But still, I heard nothing.

"You won't get anything on that," Said a voice. I jumped and turned around. It was Ash. "Stations haven't played it years."

"Why keep it?"

"Gives them hope," He smiled. This made my heart flutter. "That one day, voices will be coming through it one day, telling us that everything is okay and we can come out of hiding." I smiled back.

"I'll be waiting for that day." I laughed. "Do you think it'll ever go back…to how it was before?"

"I don't bother thinking like that. Nothing comes from thinking it, you have to do something to have something happen," He replied. I noticed he had been sorting through things, obviously organizing. "I do miss it though. How it was."

"What I really miss is the noise. I know that sounds weird but I miss the sounds of people, machines, and music. Now, it's too quiet." I whispered to him.

"I've got something for you," He replied, smiling. "It might not be completely what you're looking for but it's something." He walked over to a shelf and reached up to the top shelf and pulled off a portable CD player, a pair of headphones, and a stack of discs. He shuffled through the CD's and finally found two he wanted. He put one of the desired discs in the player. He handed me the player and the other CD.

"Listen to them later." He smiled. He smiled a lot. I liked that,

"How long have you been here?" I asked him abruptly.

"A year." He replied.

"How's that been?"

"I get by. It's kind of lonely." He half smiled.

"But this place is packed with kids. And what about Rozlyn?"

"What about her?"

"Aren't you guys...together?" I asked curiously.

"No. She's been trying for as long as we've known each other. But she's not really...my type."

I hid my smirk by saying, "So what are you doing?"

"Right now I'm working."

"Your working?" I asked.

"Yeah, we have jobs around here. There are the people who go out on raids, people who stock the shelves, people who wash clothes, and a bunch of other stuff."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a Raider," He smiled mischievously. Seemed to me like that job had its perks. "But right now I'm covering for someone in stocking."

"What does Maddox do?" I asked.

"He's the leader. You know, the captain."

"How was that decided?"

"He was the first one to get here. Four years ago. No one really decided, he just assumed the role. Someone had to be in charge around here. If no one was in charge well, you know what would happen." I think of the deterioration of our world, because of people's refusal to take charge.

"Was he alone?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Scarlett." He laughed. I blush when he said my name.

"Sorry. I'm just really curiously" I replied honestly. "How does a pack of kids survive alone over four years?" Just then a boy with a brown ponytail came up.

"Ash, we have to do an emergency raid. Surina's getting really sick. We need more meds." The boy said.

"Okay lets go," He turned to me. "See you soon, Scarlett." Then he was off with ponytail kid. I remembered then that I had set out to find some sleeping bags. I left the living area still feeling the tingly feeling Ash made me feel.

It was almost time for dinner when Maddox came to tell January and me about the night protocol.

"At nine exactly, you have to get ready for bed and do everything you need to. You'll have an hour. Then at ten sharp, everyone is in their tents, lights out, and be as quiet as possible. Because They scope out our area every night at around ten. Got it?" Maddox said seriously.

"We understand." I nodded.

"Good. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked with a wink.

"Nope. Thanks for taking us in. Oh, and is there any jobs I can do?" I asked casually.

"Well, do you have any medical experience? Because we are in _desperate _need of doctors." He looked at me with pleading eyes. I thought back to the minimal training my parents had given us and to the many times I had treated my family and sometimes assisted in emergencies at bases. I suddenly remembered the Book of Illnesses in our bag. It listed symptoms and ways to treat diseases. I could be a doctor if they needed one so badly.

"Actually, yes. I guess I have some experienced."

"Great! Thank you! You start tomorrow! The medical area is in the old employee lounge." He turned and left. There is an awful lot of trust through this society. Even towards new comers like us. Not that we are untrustworthy, but others could be. You can barely trust yourself these days. When we first got here there was no interrogation or anything. That isn't safe. The only thing they had for proof was our box. I guess apparently those were hard to come by.

Dinner was held at the front by the door, in front of the checkout stands. There were two big shipping boxes that had been pushed together to create a long table. They had a bunch of different mismatched chairs. Different food items were laid out on the makeshift table people began to take their seats started to eat. Maddox waved January and me over to where he sat. Rozlyn was also there, right across from Maddox. I reluctantly went over to them.

"Go on and sit. Since you don't really know anyone. You can sit with us." Maddox grinned.

"Thanks." I replied, eying Rozlyn. She scowled at me when I sat down next to her boldly. My sister sat next to me. Across, next to Maddox sat a black haired boy with short, spiky hair and hazel eyes. He wore glasses and a Metallica T-shirt. On the other side of Maddox was a small Asian girl with short black hair in pigtails. She wore a colorful striped long sleeved shirt. On the other side of her, a bushy brown haired boy had his arm slung around her shoulders. He had brown eyes and a darker complexion. He wore an unbuttoned plaid shirt over a white t-shirt. On the other side of Rozlyn was an African American girl with her hair in a high bun. She wore similar clothes to Rozlyn.

"Well, everyone, you know Scarlett and January from this afternoon's scare." Maddox said. They all chuckled.

"I'm Cosmo." Said the boy with glasses.

"My name's Molli." The Asian girl basically sang. "I'm sure we'll be great friends!"

"And I'm Gregorio. But you can just call me Greg." The brown haired kid kissed Molli on the cheek and she giggled. I nodded and looked over at the girl with the bun next to Rozlyn.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm Zurri," She said reluctantly. "And personally, I don't think we need any more people here we already have a ton. More people means less things for all of us." She gestured to all the others at the table. There must have been forty other kids or so. Maddox shook his head and gave Zurri a don't-be-such-a-bitch-in-front-of-the-newbies look.

"Where's Magenta?" He asked.

"There." Molli pointed at a tall, thin fiery red haired girl coming over to us. She was dressed in black and wore combat boots. She came over and sat next to January. Magenta patted her on the back.

"Hey kid. Sorry for the freak out today. Gotta be on guard ya know." She smiled. She leaned over to me and shook my hand. "I'm Magenta."

"Scarlett." I replied. Happy, she was so friendly. I looked at the assortment of packaged foods strewn across the table. I picked at a warm packaged burrito while Maddox talked to me.

"So, my sister Surina and I were the first people here," He continued. "My parents had explained I was going to be the head of the FBI kid protection agency. So I waited. It was pretty terrifying. I was only twelve and my sister was only four. So she wasn't much company. But I got by. Magenta was the next person to come. But that was months after I had come. I was alone forever, though. Protecting my little sister was all I could think about. It was good to have Magenta with me, though." He blushed slightly, which made me curious.

"Who came next?" I asked, eating.

"Jaeger. You might have seen him around with Ash. They're good friends. Blond guy with a ponytail and an earring." He explained. Ponytail guy, so that's who he is.

"Anyway next was Rozlyn," He half smiled at her. "Then Ash, Zurri, Cosmo, Molli, and then Greg. Everyone else came after them, slowly but surely. But all eight of us were alone for a long time. We all know each other best." I nodded. I was suddenly feeling out of place. "Our current doctor came next actually, which reminds me, Scarlett has volunteered to be our new doctor."

"Wow, no one's volunteered to be a doctor since…" Molli looked at everyone and the looks they gave her made her snap her mouth shut.

"Well, we only have one doctor, Kaylori. But she's a little," Magenta paused, contemplating what to say. "She's scarred. I guess you could say. You'll be working with her, though."

"I've been working with Kaylori," Says Maddox. "I guess I've been the…therapist around here. People come to me for advice or just to talk. Kaylori has been through a lot. She's a little off her rocker."

"Who is she?" I asked looking around the table crowded with kids.

"Kaylori doesn't eat with us. She won't even come out of the doctor's tent. She only leaves to go to the bathroom and shower. She doesn't like to be around much people. Just the sick ones." Cosmo says to me.

"I think Kaylori is just weak," Rozlyn spat. "I don't care if she had horrible things happen to her, we all have! We aren't _all_ crazy! She's just weak and pathetic. She does more harm than help! She shouldn't live here; she's a threat to our society. She shouldn't be working. I can't believe you let her tend Surina, Maddox! She's unstable!" Rozlyn suddenly turned and stomped away. I sat there in disbelief. Why was Rozlyn attacking such an obviously precarious person? Was she that bitter?

"What's up with her?" I ask. Molli shakes her head and looks down solemnly.

"Excuse me?" Zurri turns to me. "You don't know anything about what she's gone through. You have no right. And Rozlyn is right about Kaylori, she's not to be trusted, especially with our sick and injured. After what she did…so you better shut your mouth asshole." She directed at me, eyes filled with spite. "And Magenta, how dare you even bring up Kaylori!" She stomped after Rozlyn.

"What is going on?" I asked in disbelief. They all just shook their heads.

Maddox just sighs, exasperated. Somewhere, an alarm clock rang. "Alright people," Maddox says addressing the whole colony. "Prep time!" People pushed the makeshift tables to the side of the room and put the unwrapped food items on the shelves. They put trash in a bin in the corner. Maddox explained that this time was entirely for cleaning up and getting ready for bed before lights out at nine. We had an hour. I hadn't realized time had gone by so fast. January and I helped clean up the rest.

They bolted the doors shut at exactly eight-thirty; chain after chain, pressing chairs and other large objects against the door. No one could enter. After we were done cleaning up, everyone went back to their tents and got their things needed for bed. When we got to our tent I grabbed my toothbrush from the bag. I walked to the bathroom nonchalantly, passing kids in sweats and pajamas. I looked down at my dirty clothes. I didn't have much, just two other pairs of pants and shirts. I shrugged. It's not like I change into pajamas every night. I've always slept in my day clothes.

I entered the bathroom and had obviously interrupted a heated conversation between Rozlyn, Zurri, and a tall blond, because they all turned from the mirror to give me death stares. "What are _you_ doing here?" Rozlyn spat, her catlike eyes narrowing even more than usual. I was getting tired of putting up with her crap.

"What's your problem?" I asked. I walked towards a sink next to the trio, but before I got there blond stepped directly in front of me. She was taller than I thought, a whole head taller than I. She looked down at me with small grey eyes, similar to Rozlyn's. I noticed that she was actually wearing makeup. Who had time for that nowadays? Apparently she did. He thick lips curled up in disgust. Rozlyn shooed her away and stepped close to me.

"Right now my problem is you." She said.

I laughed. "Why? Because I'm 'taking your food', 'stealing Ash', or am I just taking up your space? You know what I think; I think your just being a needy bitch and if you can't deal with me then I suggest you leave because I'm not going to."

She seemed shocked and was thinking over what to say. I folded my arms and glared at her. I heard the door open and someone stand by my. I glanced over at Magenta. "Rozlyn just stop." She said. Rozlyn looked like she didn't know what to say so she pointed her nose in the air and led her group of devils out the door.

"Sorry about her. She's always mean." Magenta said.

"Why is she like that?"

Magenta seemed to think for a while. "Well…I guess I'll just tell you. Rozlyn had a little brother. But when he got here he got sick, really sick. Kaylori was working overtime to try and help him but he just wasn't getting better. He died a month after they had got here," She said solemnly. "Rozlyn thinks Kaylori let him die. But there was nothing she could do."

Now I knew why Rozlyn was always so bitter and why she had been so harsh about Kaylori. She was just trying to deal with the pain and the way she dealt with it was by being spiteful.

Magenta seemed to shake off the melancholy feeling and managed to change the subject. "Do you like it here?"

We both moved to the sink to brush our teeth. "We're adjusting. You guys are pretty organized here so I don't have to worry has much about some things. But still…"

"You miss them already, right?" She said through her mouthful of toothpaste.

"So much."

"Don't worry. Everyone here knows the feeling. It will be alright soon," Magenta said with confidence. She rinsed her mouth and started to leave.

"Hey," I said before she left. I hesitated for a second. I wasn't very good at showing appreciation. "Thanks." I smiled.

She smiled back. "That's what friends are for." She said goodbye and left. It made me happy to think that finally I had a friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I woke up feeling groggy. The night before had been rough. I hadn't slept well at all. I was too terrified. I had kept a protective watch over my little sister after what I had heard. Luckily, she had slept soundly.

Last night after I had left the bathroom, I walked swiftly to our tent. There was no one in sight. Everyone was probably already inside their own tents. I got inside and checked the clock; it was 9:55. I zipped up our tent opening and stuffed all of our things in our bag besides the black handgun. I looked at January she was already asleep in her sleeping bag.

I laid back on my own sleeping bag and put the handgun by my side. I noticed that everything was completely quiet. Besides the shallow breathing of my sister and the chirp of the crickets outside, I heard nothing. Then, distantly I heard a low hum. It seemed very out of place in the silent world around me. The hum gradually got louder until I recognized what it was, a truck. I tensed instantly as I heard the vehicle comes to a stop right outside the store.

I heard the sound of heavy boots stomping, car doors slamming, and I swear I made out the soft jingle of guns being carried. Everything was abruptly silent for a moment. I jumped when I heard a loud banging coming from the front doors of the store. I covered my mouth and suppressed a squeal.

It stopped and I heard a muffled voice say, "There's never anything here, why do we always check this place?" I heard a sudden gunshot and a scream of pain.

An angry voice said, "You do not question Samil Asling's orders! We check every building, every night! We have to kill off every single one of those damn rebels!" I heard other low whispers that I couldn't make out and then suddenly I heard the boots stomping again and the car doors slamming. The hum of the engine revved and I heard the truck pull away, leaving me still gripped in fear. I had felt half awake all night.

Now, I tiredly dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and pulled on my boots. My sister was already gone and when I looked at our clocked I noticed it was 7:30. I might have missed breakfast. Before I left the tent I grabbed the Book of Illnesses out of our bag and left. I walked to the eating area and saw that some were still eating. I grabbed a package of Poptarts from the table and headed to find the old employee lounge where the makeshift hospital was.

As I passed the many children stocking the shelves with food and supplies they were grabbing out of bags, I literally ran into Ash. "Scarlett, I was looking for you." He said cheerily. I tried not to blush.

"Oh hey. Your back from the raid." I noticed he was carrying a cardboard box.

"Yep, we got some extra food supplies and some medicine for the sick. I heard you were gonna be a new doctor so I was gonna give the drugs to you." He gave me the box he was carrying full of bottles of medicines, syringes, and ointments.

"Oh thank you. So that's why you were looking for me?" I said, slightly disappointed.

He nodded. "That and because I just wanted to see you," He smiled. "See you later, Scar." He winked and left. My stomach seemed to be filled with a million tiny butterflies.

I continued on my way to find the hospital. I came to a door that said 'Employee Lounge' on it and pushed my way in. Inside was a room filled with mattresses and couches and on them lay sick and injured children. I'd worked with the doctors at bases before and I'd seen the pain in the men and women's eyes and I'd smelt the smell of burned flesh, the vomit, and the blood. But this place was worse. The sight of agonized children was horrific and the smell was far more disturbing.

A short scraggly haired girl in rubber gloves and a hospital mask came over to me. She looked about thirteen and wore thick glasses. She looked like she hadn't bathed in weeks and seemed exhausted. "Hello, I'm Kaylori. You must be the new doctor." She held out her hand and I shook it.

"I'm Scarlett, I've brought the medicine that they got in the raid." Kaylori went over to a cabinet that hung on the wall and opened it. I noticed there were a package of gloves, facemasks, and only one container of liquid inside. I recognized the liquid from the bases it was morphine.

"Well Scarlett, I need you to put these on," She handed me a pair of gloves and a mask. "We have a lot of work to do." I shoved the gloves on and pulled the mask over my face. She led me over to a mattress with a sleeping blond curly haired little girl on it. She looked deathly ill. Her face was pale, her lips were blue, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Surina, wake up," Kaylori said softly. This was Surina, Maddox's sister. " I just don't know what's wrong with her." She said to me. Surina's eyes slowly opened revealing two light blue eyes. She coughed violently.

"What are all of her symptoms?" I asked putting down the box of medicines and bringing out my Book of Ilnesses.

Kaylori looks exasperated. "Where do I start? Well she has difficulty standing, dizziness, coughs, shortness of breath, fatigue, fever, wheezing, body aches, chills, chest pain, and is just weak in general. I don't know what to do." I grabbed a thermometer from a table nearby.

"Surina," She looked at me sadly. "I'm Scarlett. I need to take your temperature so could you open your mouth for me?" I asked nicely. She opened her mouth slowly. I stuck the thermometer under her tongue. I waited for a while and when I pulled it out it read 102.5. I thought for a moment then checked my book. "Well by the sound of her symptoms I'd say she has a severe case of Pneumonia."

"What do we do?" Kaylori asked worried. I started rummaging through the box of medicines.

"Well, we need to give her an antibiotic, right away."

"We haven't had antibiotics in years. I've been giving Surina cough suppressants." She said. I found penicillin in the box. I hoped that Surina wasn't allergic. I grabbed a grabbed a syringe, cleaned it, and filled it with penicillin. I grabbed her small arm and injected it.

"Let's give her a dose every eight hours and see if she improves." I said throwing the Syringe into the garbage can. Kaylori nodded. She led me to the next bed. It held a sixteen-year-old boy. He was sitting up, watching me.

"I'm Cobalt." He said, strained but tried to smile. His hair was matted to his forehead and his clothes were torn and dirty. He had a white sheet covering him.

"I'm Scarlett." I pulled down my mask and smiled at him.

"Well, you better take a look, because it feels like hell," Cobalt wheezed pulling off the sheet strewn across his legs. He had on a pair of cut off shorts and his left shin, I noticed, was wrapped in bloody gauze. "Had an accident on a raid. We were sent to get some weapon supplies a town away in an old military base. When we got there a small group of Them were staked out there. When They ambushed us I was stabbed in the leg. We barely got away," He looked down solemnly. "Well, most of us got away. Two didn't make it."

I frowned. "I'm sorry." He shook it off.

"It's alright. Happens a lot." He responded. I turned my attention to his leg. I grabbed a roll of clean gauze from the table and a rag. I rummaged through the box of medicines and found antibiotic ointment.

"Kaylori can you get me a water bottle and some scissors?" I asked her. She nodded and went to a cabinet. She pulled out a bottle and some medical scissors and brought them to me. I opened the bottle and drenched the rag. I took the scissors and began to cut the gauze off his leg. He winced when I slowly peeled the wrap off.

I gasped, the injury was worse than I thought. The cut was deep and the skin was yellowing and puss was spilling out. It was still bloody. "How long ago did you get this?" I asked, nervously.

He looked worried. "Two weeks ago. Why?" Two weeks? It was a miracle that he wasn't extremely ill or even dead. The cut hadn't been sewn and no antibiotic ointment had been applied to the area.

"Do you have a medical sewing kit?" I asked Kaylori. She shook her head.

"That's why I didn't stitch it." She replied.

"Check the box for a kit." I said urgently. She started to dig through the box. I wrung out the rag onto the wound. Cobalt winced.

"There isn't one but I have an idea, I'll be right back." Kaylori said, rushing out the door. I tried to clean off the puss and blood.

"Is it gonna hurt?" Cobalt asked, painfully. "If you sew me up."

I bit my lip. "I'll give you a dose of morphine before. It'll help." I replied. I went to the cabinet and got out the morphine bottle and got a syringe out of the box of medicines. I cleaned and filled the syringe and then laid it on a clean rag on the table.

Kaylori came running in holding a small case of something. She handed me a regular at home sewing kit. "It's for sewing clothes but that's all that they got in the raid." She said breathless.

"We'll just double thread the needle," I said. I opened the kit and pulled out the thread and a needle. "Kaylori can you thread it? I'm going to inject Cobalt with morphine." She nodded and took the needle and thread. I grabbed the syringe and turned to Cobalt. He looked nervous. "No need to worry. You'll be okay. Just relax." I told him, trying to calm him by stroking his hand. He seemed to relax a little. I grabbed his arm and injected him.

"It's warm." He reveled. I nodded. Kaylori handed me the threaded needle. I waited a few minutes for the morphine to spread then instructed Kaylori to distract Cobalt. She held his hand and started to talk to him.

"Look at me Cobalt." She said. He looked into her eyes, smiling. I started to sew. Cobalt tried to look down and see what was happening but Kaylori kept pulling his face to look back at hers as she talked to him. From what it looked like, he wasn't feeling any pain. When I had sewn the skin together finally I cleaned the area with a clean, wet rag and rubbed the antibiotic onto the wound. Finally, I wrapped the gauze around his leg and tied it.

"Done," I said to both of them. "We'll take out your stitches in a few weeks." I looked at Cobalt. He seemed fine besides being a little drugged. The door suddenly opened and Ash walked in. I smiled at him. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I've been assigned to help the hospital." He smiled at us. Kaylori went to the cabinet and threw him some gloves and a mask like she had done to me.

"Put these on. Though, we don't need anyone else to help really. This girl's got it under control. She's got a gift." Kaylori nodded at me. I didn't think using a book to discover a girl's illness and taking care of a raider's wound was really a gift. I just knew what to do from experience at bases. But I was just glad I could help.

I met the five other children in the hospital. I met Calix and Stence, other raiders who were injured in the raid that Cobalt was. Calix was blond and small but Ash claimed he was super fast. Stence was a large seventeen-year-old African American guy who always looked pissed. Both Calix and Stence had broken their legs.

I met Exia, who was sick with a bad case of the flu. She was ten and had very long brown hair. Then there was Oona who was sixteen and shockingly seven months pregnant. Last but not least there was Sheppard. Sheppard had been rescued from a torture chamber on one of Their bases. He had had his voice box cut out so he could not speak. But I wondered if he could, what kind of horrible things he would tell.

At about 5:30 we went to get the patients their dinner. They got to eat earlier than everyone else so that we could have time to bring them their food. Ash and I decided to stay and eat with Kaylori and the patients. Also someone needed to help feed Surina. Kaylori said she usually did it but Ash volunteered to. I watched Ash feed the sick seven year old and wondered if he had had a younger sibling or if he was just naturally good with kids. He even made her smile. Maybe it was just his charm.

"He's a babe, isn't he?" Oona sighed. I looked over at her. She was patting her swollen stomach and staring at Ash. I nodded. "Are you guys together?"

I chuckled. "No. Of course not."

She looked surprised. "Why not?"

I scoffed. Love is the last thing on my mind."

She looked at me suspiciously. "Is it?" I looked down. I had actually thought about love a lot. But I wasn't ever going to admit that, to anyone. "Too bad. You guys would be cute." She looked sad all of the sudden.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It reminds me of Cy, he was my boyfriend you know, that's why I'm like this," She chuckled and motioned to her stomach. "He died in the big raid accident," I frowned and patted her hand. I wasn't good with this kind of thing so I didn't know what to say. But she seemed to shake it off and held her head high. She looked up, over my head. "Well, hello Ash." She winked.

I turned around to see him standing there looking concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep. Just telling this lovely girl about my Cy." She winked in my direction. Ash nodded respectfully.

"Have you seen your sister today?" Ash asked me, changing the slightly uncomfortable mood.

"No, I haven't." I said. I looked at the clock on the wall it was 6:30. I hadn't seen January all day. She must be pissed. "Damn it. I've got to go. My sister is going to be pissed that I ditched her all day." I cleaned up my dinner and said goodbye to Kaylori and the patients.

I pushed open the door. Ash came up behind me and said, "Do you know what your sister's been doing all day?" He asked. That made me nervous. Had she gotten in trouble or something?

"What did she do?" I sighed.

"Well she's been working her ass off," He marveled. "I've never seen someone her age work that hard in my life."

"Where was she working?" I said surprised. He looked a little weary; like he was going to tell me something I didn't want to hear.

"Well, she's been in training all day. To be a raider." He replied. Yep, I didn't want to hear that. All I could think of was injured Cobalt and Oona's dead boyfriend. But January was a wimp! She couldn't be a raider. She wasn't strong enough.

"Not a chance. January?" Ash had to be joking. January was far from hard working and tough. But he just looked at me seriously.

"She's actually really talented. We could really use her in raids and…" I cut him off.

"No way. Could you take me to her?" I was mad. They didn't even ask me how I felt about them training my baby sister to go on deadly raids! Ash nodded and led me to the other side of the store and through a door into a courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by a high fence and sectioned off into training areas. One area had many teenagers sprinting from one end of the courtyard to the other; another area had an army style obstacle course that some were training with.

The next area had tables covered with a large collection of guns, ammo, and grenades and a range with makeshift targets to shoot at. There was my eleven-year-old sister shooting a sniper rifle. "January!" I called. She looked at me and smiled. She put down her gun carefully and bounded over to me.

"Scarlett, there you are. I've been training all day! I'm going to be a raider!" She said excitedly, her grey eyes sparkling. Her scraggly blonde hair had been swept into a ponytail and she was wearing a dark green tank top, black shorts, and her boots. She had gotten tan from the sun exposer and her nose seemed extra freckled.

"Um. Hell no. How did you even get into this anyway?" Before my sister could reply there were a bunch of yelling coming from inside of the store. Everyone, including my sister, grabbed a gun from the table and hurried inside. I grabbed a shotgun and went with everyone else to investigate.


End file.
